A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund to address harms its platforms have caused to children, marking the largest child-safety penalty ever levied against the social media giant. The ruling by Santa Fe County District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid brings the company's total liability in the case to $942 million, adding to a $375 million civil penalty a jury imposed in March after finding 75,000 violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act.

Judge Biedscheid declared Meta a "public nuisance" comparable to a factory emitting toxic pollution, writing that the company's recommendation algorithms "steered" young users toward harmful content and contacts. The judge ordered the bulk of the new award — $420 million — to fund clinical and behavioral health treatment for affected youth, with $90 million for screening and assessment, $33 million for prevention and awareness, $15 million for referrals and care coordination, and $9 million for program oversight over five years.

What the order requires

Beyond the financial penalty, the court mandated a suite of product changes for users under 18 in New Mexico:

  • Ban accounts under 18 from being recommended to adults and block adults from messaging minors
  • Prohibit underage users from sending or receiving nudity
  • Enact a "one-strike" policy for adults who engage in child sexual exploitation
  • Remove visible "like" counts for users under 18
  • Block push notifications daily from 10 PM to 7 AM and during school hours (8 AM–3 PM) on weekdays
  • Cap cumulative usage at 90 hours per month across Instagram and Facebook (roughly three hours per day)
  • Build prominent in-app banners explaining safety tools and reporting mechanisms
  • Develop an AI-driven "under-13 prediction model" within two years and improve age-assurance signals using friend networks and content patterns
  • Request proof of age for users estimated to be under 13 and treat them as under 13 until verified
  • Partner with schools or child-safety groups to create a reporting portal for staff to flag suspected under-13 users
  • Delete personal data collected on users under 13 and submit compliance reports twice yearly

The judge acknowledged that the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prevents mandatory age verification for children under 13, and ruled that singling out Meta for such requirements would be inequitable.

Why it matters

The decision is the first in the United States to classify a social media company as a public nuisance, establishing a legal framework that could spread to other states. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called it a "historic moment" that changes the national conversation about whether platforms of Meta's scale can be held accountable for design choices that amplify harm. Meta faces a parallel federal multi-district trial in Oakland later this month, where 29 states allege the company knowingly designed addictive features targeting children. A Tennessee state trial is already underway, and a Los Angeles jury earlier this year found Meta liable for building addictive platforms, awarding $6 million in damages. Families of four teenagers who died by suicide have also sued Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube over what they describe as years of escalating harms.

Meta said it will appeal. "We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," a spokesperson said. The company maintains confidence in its teen-protection record and argues the ruling misrepresents the facts. Investors appeared unmoved; Meta shares dipped less than half a percent in after-hours trading Thursday. The company reported $61 billion in revenue for the April–June quarter and roughly $60 billion in annual profit for 2025, making the $942 million total penalty a small fraction of its earnings.

Regulators abroad are watching. The UK and EU are pushing similar protections, with the UK proposing to block under-16s from social media entirely and impose opt-out nighttime curfews for older teens. The New Mexico ruling may accelerate those efforts by providing a judicial template for structural remedies.

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